Concert preview: Roger Waters

Wednesday

Jul 19, 2017 at 6:25 PM

Former Pink Floyd songwriter's politics have overshadowed his music lately

Joel Oliphint @joeloliphint

Roger Waters just released his first solo album of new material in 25 years, Is This the Life We Really Want? But because of the former Pink Floyd songwriter/vocalist/bassist's outspoken views on Israel and Palestine, his new music has taken a backseat to a tiff with Radiohead's Thom Yorke over whether Radiohead should or shouldn't play a gig in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Waters believes in a cultural boycott of Israel, as do other musicians (Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio) who signed an open letter to Radiohead in April asking the band to cancel its gig “because by playing in Israel you'll be playing in a state where, UN rapporteurs say, ‘a system of apartheid has been imposed on the Palestinian people.'” Yorke told Rolling Stone he doesn't agree with the cultural ban and said the criticism has been “extremely upsetting.” Waters said Yorke was “whining about how he feels insulted” and implored the frontman to educate himself. To make things even more awkward, frequent Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich produced Waters' new album.

If you'd rather not wade into those political waters (sorry), and you also don't care much about the English rocker's new solo album, know that this is the Us + Them tour, in which Waters will perform songs from legendary Pink Floyd albums like The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Animals and Wish You Were Here. (Safe bet)